Directors of the Muntú Bantú Afro-Colombian Social Foundation reported that they closed their headquarters in Quibdó due to threats against their lives and the difficult public order situation in the capital of Choco.
“Our projects are not economic, but academic, investigative, reparative and demanding for Africans and their diaspora, unfortunately there are people who do not understand it,” said María Fernanda Parra and Sergio Antonio Mosquera, directors of the Muntú Bantú Center for Memory, Documentation and Afrodiasporic Materialities.
The Secretary of Culture of Chocó issued a statement in solidarity with Muntú Bantú where it notes that it “regrets and rejects the recent criminal-extortive acts” against this cultural foundation.
In Quibdó extortion, robbery and homicides increase every day. Dozens of neighborhood shopkeepers and merchants have closed their small businesses and have emigrated to other parts of Colombia. The same has happened with some professionals such as medical specialists, engineers and lawyers.